Margaret reminded me just tonight that this is book 6 of the 7 book Harry Potter series. Harry is set to graduate from Hogwarts towards the end of the next book! Does that mean we only have a single book left to enjoy the wonderful Harry Potter Universe (I’m going to coin the phrase Potterverse)? Or will we be hearing more from JK Rowling?

My initial reaction is that we will get more Harry Potter books when Ms. Rowling runs out of money. Then I thought about it some more, and she can’t possibly ever run out of money, between the money she has made on the books, the movies, and the the merchandise. But more realistically, I think she will declare Harry Potter done after book 7. Or at least done for a little bit.

I think after some time (maybe 2 years or so) without writing anything new in the Potterverse, I think she is going to start missing it. She will have spent enough time from writing, that she will forget how tiring it is to write them. And she will go back. But don’t expect her to pick up with Harry entering the workforce. And don’t expect her to start with a new batch of Hogwarts first years. My prediction is that we’ll get at least a single story from the Potterverse, that may only peripherally involve any of the existing characters. And it will almost definitely have no mention of Lord Voldermort. If she feels comfortable with the direction that that novel is taking, she may leverage it into a new Potterverse series.

All this money she has made really benefits us, her fans. Since she has more than enough money to live comfortable for the rest of her life, she dosen’t need to write any more books. She won’t have to churn our crap like may authors do (Piers Anthony) to keep paying the bills. She can take her time and write something that she is truly happy with. And in the end, all the Harry Potter fans will be better off.

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